• BioMerieux SA, of Marcy L'Etoile, France, concluded an agreement to buy privately held AB Biodisk, of Solna, Sweden, an in vitro diagnostics company. AB Biodisk markets the Etest product line, which is used to determine the exact minimum inhibitory concentration of antibiotics, antifungal agents and antimycobacterial agents. The company's 2007 sales totaled more than €13 million (US$20.2 million). Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

• Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., of Princeton, N.J., said the antitrust review period for its tender offer for Kosan Biosciences Inc., of Hayward, Calif., has ended. BMS, through its wholly owned subsidiary KB Acquisition Corp., initiated the cash tender offer in May to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock of Kosan for $5.50 per share. (See BioWorld Today, May 30, 2008.)

• Canopus BioPharma Inc., of Los Angeles, signed a license agreement with the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation to secure patents relating to its Phase II oncology drug candidate, CB1400. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Canopus expects to develop CB1400, a former anti-schistosomal drug, as a method for preventing and reducing mucositis. The compound is in Phase II development to prevent mucositis in patients receiving radiotherapy or chemotherapy treatment.

• Cell Therapeutics Inc., of Seattle, entered an agreement with Berlin-based Bayer Schering Pharma AG to gain access to Bayer's Phase III Zevalin FIT (First-line Indolent Trial) data. The company expects that data from the trial will be appropriate for CTI to begin discussions with the FDA regarding the potential for a supplemental biologics license application for Zevalin based on Bayer's trial results. CTI said those data may provide the potential for label expansion in the U.S.

• CureVac GmbH, of Tubingen, Germany, entered a partnership with the department of urology at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla., to jointly advance its lead candidate, CV9103, into the clinic. CV9103 is an RNActive-derived molecule composed of modified single-stranded messenger RNA coding for four different antigens expressed by prostate cancer cells. The alliance covers preclinical studies and a U.S. Phase I/II trial in patients with prostate cancer who no longer respond to hormone therapy. CureVac and the university expect to submit an investigational new drug application this summer, with plans to start clinical testing in 2009.

• Dow AgroSciences LLC, of San Diego, exercised its option to obtain a commercial license to zinc finger technology from Richmond, Calif.-based Sangamo BioSciences Inc. The license allows Dow AgroSciences to commercialize products that incorporate or were developed from plant cells using Sangamo's zinc finger DNA-binding protein technology for agricultural crops, industrial products and plant-derived biopharmaceuticals. Sangamo and Dow AgroSciences have been collaborating under a three-year research and commercial license option agreement initiated in October 2005. Dow AgroSciences exercised its commercial option four months before expiration of the option period. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 6, 2005.)

• Elixir Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., said results from in vivo studies demonstrated that oral ghrelin agonist EX-1314 was as potent and efficacious as the naturally occurring ghrelin peptide (delivered via injection) in stimulating gastric emptying, intestinal transit and fecal output, compared to placebo. In a separate animal model, oral treatment with EX-1314 normalized gastrointestinal function in opioid-induced bowel dysfunction vs. placebo. Those data were presented at the Endocrine Society meeting in San Francisco.

• Ikaria Holdings Inc., of Clinton, N.J., said its subsidiary, INO Therapeutics LLC, reported that Japanese regulators recommended approval of INOflo (nitric oxide) for inhalation. INOflo (branded INOmax in the U.S.) would be indicated for treating newborns suffering from hypoxic respiratory failure. Official approval in Japan is expected next month.

• Innovotech Inc., of Edmonton, Alberta, said it reached agreement with BioSurface Technologies, of Bozeman, Mont., to market and distribute its patented MBEC Assay research tool. Financial terms were not disclosed.

• Medicure Inc., of Winnipeg, Manitoba, said its board unanimously decided to submit a written notice to the American Stock Exchange to voluntarily delist its common shares from Amex. On June 3, Medicure received a letter from Amex stating that the company was not in compliance with certain continued listing standards. It is expected that listing of the shares on Amex will cease on July 7. Shares will continue to be traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

• Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cambridge, Mass., reported preclinical data showing that prostate-specific membrane antigen inhibitors MIP-1072 and MIP-1095 demonstrated that they competed for bindings for PSMA on prostate cancer cells, inhibited the NAALADase activity of PSMA, bound to PSMA with high affinity and were internalized in prostate cancer cells. Peak tumor uptake in human tumor xenograft models ranged from 18 percent to 38 percent ID/g. Those small-molecule compounds are part of the company's Trofex program, which is designed to detect, stage and monitor prostate cancer. Those data, among others, were presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in New Orleans.

• Monogram Biosciences Inc., of South San Francisco, said it entered an agreement with Gilead Sciences Inc., of Foster City, Calif., to provide resistance testing and consulting services for Gilead's Phase III trials of Elvitegravir, an integrase inhibitor. Gilead will use two Monogram assays, PhenoSense GT and PhenoSense Integrace, to screen potential study participants as well as to select drugs to be given in the trial along with Elvitegravir. Those assays were used in preclinical and Phase II studies of Elvitegravir. Gilead said it hopes to start enrollment in the Phase III trial later this year.

• Nile Therapeutics Inc., of San Francisco, entered a worldwide, exclusive license agreement with the Mayo Clinic for the rights to commercially develop CU-NP, a preclinical, rationally designed natriuretic peptide that consists of amino acid chains identical to those produced by the human body, specifically the ring structure of C-type natriuretic peptide and N- and C-termini of urodilatin. In vivo data presented last year showed that the compound increased natriuresis, dieresis and glomerular filtration rate in a dose-dependent manner and was able to inhibit the renin-angiotensin system without inducing significant hypotension. Under the terms, Nile will pay undisclosed development milestones and royalties based on product sales.

• Nventa Biopharmaceuticals Corp., of San Diego, said it developed a vaccine adjuvant, Poly IC-Poly Arginine (Poly-ICR) that has broad potential for use in therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines. Poly-ICR is a Toll-like receptor 3 agonist that, when combined with a disease-specific antigen, is designed to induce both cytotoxic and antibody immune responses against that antigen. Data from mouse models have shown that the adjuvant increases the antigen-specific CD8 T-cell levels, while both inducing regression of tumors and preventing tumor growth. Nventa intends to incorporate Poly-ICR into its future CoVal therapeutic compound programs.

• Repligen Corp., of Waltham, Mass., said its board authorized the repurchase of up to 1.3 million shares of common stock. Under that program, the company can repurchase those shares, from time to time, at prevailing prices in the open market or in negotiated transactions off the market. Repligen currently has 31.2 million shares outstanding. Stock repurchases will be funded through available cash.

• Rosetta Genomics Ltd., of Rehovot, Israel, advanced three additional diagnostic tests into its development pipeline, including programs to predict responses to ovarian cancer treatment and to differentiate small-cell lung cancer from non-small-cell lung cancer. The company also identified microRNA biomarkers in the serum of colon cancer patients, which could serve as the basis for a future test for colon cancer. The new tests are expected to be developed and marketed through Rosetta's Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-certified laboratory, for which a binding acquisition term sheet recently was signed.

• Seattle Genetics Inc., of Bothell, Wash., said it achieved a milestone under its antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) collaboration with Genentech Inc., of South San Francisco. The milestone was triggered by Genentech's filing of an investigational new drug application with the FDA for an ADC using Seattle Genetics' technology.